Interactive phonics game system and method

ABSTRACT

A system for encouraging a child to learn to read, comprising a computing device and at least one physical manipulative, wherein the computing device can identify the physical manipulative and display at least one word relating to the physical manipulative. In an embodiment, a letter identification board with letter manipulatives is included, wherein a child can spell out a word on the letter identification board and the computing device shows an animation of the physical manipulative performing the action indicated by the word.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/428,154, filed Feb. 9, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/838,307, filed Aug. 27, 2015, which is a continuation in part of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/838,307, filed Aug. 27, 2015, which claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional App. No. 62/044,310, filed Aug. 31, 2014, which are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND Field of the Invention

The present invention is generally in the area of educational toys for children, and specifically relates to a system and method of teaching phonics involving physical manipulatives as well as software.

Description of Related Art

Children learning to read are often encouraged to use phonics to “sound out” letters in a word. This helps the child understand the sounds made by different letters and thus assimilate the rules of English spelling and pronunciation. Since children are physical learners and respond well to tactile stimulation, many manipulatives exist for the purpose of teaching reading—alphabet blocks, letter-shaped magnets, and other similar things. A child using such toys can learn the shape of the letters by touch as well as by sight and thus learn them better.

Many software games exist for the purpose of teaching children to read, but as mentioned, for optimal learning, it is desirable for such a software game to interact with a system involving physical manipulatives. A need therefore exists for a system that can interact with manipulatives, identify them, and communicate this information to a computing device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a system for identifying toy manipulatives, communicating the identification information to a computing device, and using it to instruct the child in reading.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an educational toy that combines physical manipulatives with a software game.

The system of the present invention comprises at least one physical manipulative; a computing device comprising a display, a user interface, an identification module for identifying the at least one physical manipulative, and a communication module for communicating with a server; and a server comprising a database wherein the database comprises a listing of physical manipulative and at least one descriptive attribute for each physical manipulative. The computing device is configured to identify the physical manipulative and to display or modify at least one word related to the physical manipulative on the display.

In an embodiment, the system also comprises a set of letter manipulatives, a letter identification board on which the letter manipulatives are placed, an identification module for identifying the letter manipulatives that are placed on the letter identification board. The computing device is further configured to identify any letter manipulatives placed on the letter identification board and identify a word spelled out by the letter manipulatives.

The physical manipulatives can be animal figures, cartoon characters, dolls, action figures, or vehicles.

The descriptive attributes can be personality, habits, sounds, phrases, geographic origin, size, diet, spelling of a name, pronunciation of a name, at least one Internet link. The at least one word may be related to the at least one descriptive attributes.

The identification module may comprise a camera, a NFC module, a QR reader, a bar code reader, a RF receiver, or a sound detection device.

The computing device may also be configured to detect a motion pattern of the physical manipulative and display at least one word related to the motion pattern on the display.

The computing device may also be configured to identify at least one word spelled out by the letter manipulatives. If the at least one word relates to an action, the computing device displays an animation showing the physical manipulative performing the action; if the at least one word relates to an orientation, the computing device displays the physical manipulative in that orientation; if the at least one word relates to a position, the computing device displays the physical manipulative in the position.

The computing device may also be configured to detect the orientation of the physical manipulative and display at least one word relating to the orientation on the display.

The computing device may be a tablet, laptop, smartphone, desktop, or a wearable computing device such as smart glasses.

In an embodiment, there are two physical manipulatives. The computing device is further configured to detect their relative position, the absolute position of each physical manipulative, or the orientation of each physical manipulative, and display at least one word relating to the interaction between the two physical manipulatives.

In an embodiment, there are two physical manipulatives, and the computing device is further configured to identify at least one word spelled out by the letter manipulatives, and if the at least one word relates to the relationship between the two physical manipulative, the computing device displays an animation showing the relationship between the two physical manipulatives.

The method of the present invention comprises detecting the presence of at least one physical manipulative near a computing device, identifying the physical manipulative, and using the computing device to display at least one word relating to the physical manipulative.

In an embodiment, the method of the present invention further comprises detecting the presence of at least one letter manipulative on a letter identification board, identifying each letter manipulative, identifying a word spelled out by the at least one letter manipulative, and if the word relates to an action, using the computing device to display an animation of the physical manipulative performing the action; if the word relates to an orientation, using the computing device to display the physical manipulative in the orientation; and if the word relates to a position, using the computing device to display the physical manipulative in the position.

In an embodiment, the method of the present invention further comprises detecting a motion pattern of the physical manipulative near the computing device and using the computing device to display at least one word relating to the physical manipulative and the motion pattern.

In an embodiment, the method of the present invention further comprises detecting the presence of a second physical manipulative near the computing device, using the computing device to identify any relationship between the physical manipulative and the second physical manipulative, and using the computing device to display at least one word relating to the relationship between the physical manipulative and the second physical manipulative.

In an embodiment, the method of the present invention further comprises detecting the presence of a second physical manipulative near the computing device, detecting the presence of at least one letter manipulative on a letter identification board, identifying each letter manipulative, identifying a word spelled out by the at least one letter manipulative, and if the word relates to a relationship, using the computing device to display the physical manipulative and the second physical manipulative in the relationship.

In an embodiment, the method further comprises identifying at least one descriptive attribute pertaining to the physical manipulative, such as personality, habits, sounds, phrases, geographic origin, size, diet, spelling or pronunciation of a name, or link to the Internet, and displaying at least one word pertaining to the at least one descriptive attribute.

In an embodiment, the at least one physical manipulative is a doll, an animal figure, a cartoon character figure, an action figure, a vehicle.

The step of identifying the at least one physical manipulative may be performed by a QR reader, a bar code reader, a camera, a NFC reader, a RF receiver, or a sound detection device.

LIST OF FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the present invention that also comprises a letter identification board.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the present invention that also comprises a letter identification board.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example method.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Several embodiments of the present invention are described below. It will be understood that the invention is not limited to these embodiments, but is only limited by the appended claims.

While any computing device may be used to implement the present invention, assuming it has sufficient computing power to identify a physical manipulative and to display animations on the screen, a tablet is used in the preferred embodiment. It will be understood, however, that any laptop, smartphone, desktop computer, or gaming device may also be used to implement the present invention. Wearable computing devices comprising head-mounted displays may also be used. For simplicity, the word “tablet” will be used in the below disclosure to describe the computing device.

In its preferred embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the present invention is implemented on a tablet 110, which comprises a display, a user interface (a touchscreen), a communication module for communicating with a server (via the Internet), and a camera for identifying a physical manipulative. A physical manipulative 100 is moved in front of the tablet 110. The tablet identifies the physical manipulative (preferably visually by using the camera) and displays at least one word relating to the physical manipulative on the screen. For example, it can display the word HORSE if a horse physical manipulative is displayed.

In an embodiment, the tablet 110 is programmed to identify the motion pattern of the physical manipulative 100 as well. This embodiment is shown in FIG. 1. If the horse physical manipulative 100 is moved as if it were galloping, the tablet displays the word GALLOP. This enables a child to learn a new word, to learn how it is spelled, and to learn what it means.

While the physical manipulative 100 is identified visually in the preferred embodiment, it may also be identified by NFC, RFID, sound, a QR pattern, or a bar code. Each physical manipulative may comprise an RFID chip or a QR pattern or a bar code, and a bar code reader, QR reader, NFC module, or RF receiver may be used to identify the physical manipulative.

In an embodiment, the method of identifying the motion of the physical manipulative is different from the method of identifying the physical manipulative itself. So, for example, the tablet's camera can be used to determine how the physical manipulative is moving, while a NFC chip could be used to identify the physical manipulative. In FIG. 5, detection of one or more such physical manipulatives is shown as operation 510 in the method 500, and identification of the detected physical manipulatives is shown as operation 520 in the method 500.

The physical manipulative may be any toy that is easily manipulated by a child. For example, figurines such as animal figures, stuffed animals, cartoon character figures, dolls, action figures, or vehicles may be used. While it is preferable for the physical manipulative to represent an anthropomorphic character or vehicle such as are commonly used in imaginative play by children, it is not necessarily required. For example, an embodiment of the invention may use blocks.

In the preferred embodiment, the physical manipulative represents a character or an object that has at least one descriptive attribute. For example, a horse is an animal, it goes “Neigh!”, it eats grass, it is large, and so on. Such descriptive attributes may be stored in a database and retrieved when a horse manipulative is displayed in front of the computing device. So, rather than displaying the word GALLOP as shown in the Figure, the display may show the word NEIGH or the phrase I EAT GRASS. Such examples of determining a word may for all or part of operation 530 in the method 500 shown in FIG. 5.

In an embodiment shown in FIG. 2, a letter identification board 200 and letter manipulatives 210 are connected to the tablet 110. A user may spell out a word (like GALLOP). Such an example of determining a word may form all or part of operation 530 in the method 500 shown in FIG. 5. The letter identification board 200 identifies each letter and communicates the data to the tablet 110; the tablet determines whether or not the letters spell out a word, and if they do, determines whether or not the word can be used to describe an action, a position, an orientation, or a relationship. In the preferred embodiment, this is accomplished by a database comprising lists of “action words”, “position words”, and so on. For example, “action words” may be words like RUN, WALK, JUMP, TWIRL, GALLOP, TROT, HOP; “position words” may be words like ON TOP, BELOW, ABOVE, LEFT, RIGHT; “relationship words” may be words like HUG, KISS, HIT, CARRY, SIT ON; “orientation words” can be UPSIDEDOWN, SIDEWAYS, RIGHT SIDE UP, and so on. This is shown in FIG. 5 as operation 540 in the method 500. FIG. 3 shows an interaction between two physical manipulatives; the two dolls are hugging, so the word HUG is displayed on the screen. In FIG. 4, a letter identification board is used to spell out the word HUG, and two manipulatives are shown in front of the camera; an animation showing the two figures hugging is displayed on the screen.

After the word is identified and determined to be an “action word” (or “position word”, “relationship word”, or “orientation word”), the tablet identifies any physical manipulatives present in front of the camera. If a physical manipulative is present in front of the camera, the tablet shows the physical manipulative performing the action. For example, spelling out the word GALLOP on the letter identification board, and displaying a horse manipulative in front of the tablet, will result in an animation of a galloping horse. This is shown in FIG. 5 as operation 550 in the method 500. If the word is not an “action word”, the animation will not be displayed.

In an embodiment, if the word is an “action word” but wrong for the particular physical manipulative (i.e. the word GALLOP combined with a frog), the system may display a message that frogs do not gallop, or display a smiley face laughing at the silliness of a galloping frog.

The letter identification board may use any method of identifying the letters present on the board. Capacitive sensors are used in the preferred embodiment, as disclosed in prior application Ser. No. 14/816,536; however, any other sensors may be used.

Exemplary embodiments have been described above. It will, however, be clear to a person of reasonable skill that the invention encompasses other embodiments, which also fall into the scope of the present invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: detecting, by one or more processors of a machine, a co-occurrence of first and second figurines being within a detection range of a sensor of the machine; identifying, by one or more processors of the machine, the first and second figurines in response to their detected co-occurrence within the detection range of the sensor of the machine; determining, by one or more processors of the machine, an action word based on the identified first and second figurines whose co-occurrence within the detection range of the sensor is detected; determining, by one or more processors of the machine, that a database represents the action word in a list of action words and correlates the action word to an animation of a corresponding action performable by the identified first and second figurines; and causing, by one or more processors of the machine, a display screen to display the animation correlated to the action word by the database, the displayed animation depicting the corresponding action performable by the identified first and second figurines whose co-occurrence within the detection range of the sensor is detected.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein: the identifying of the first and second figurines includes recognizing that the first figurine is at least one of a first animal figure, a first anthropomorphic figure, a first cartoon figure, or a first action figure and that the second figurine is at least one of a second animal figure, a second anthropomorphic figure, a second cartoon figure, or a second action figure.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: identifying a relationship between the identified first and second figurines; and wherein: the causing of the display screen to display the animation correlated to the action word is based on the identified relationship between the identified first and second figurines.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: detecting relative positions of the identified first and second figurines; and wherein: the causing of the display screen to display the animation correlated to the action word is based on the detected relative positions of the identified first and second figurines.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: detecting absolute positions of the identified first and second figurines; and wherein: the causing of the display screen to display the animation correlated to the action word is based on the detected absolute positions of the identified first and second figurines.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: detecting orientations of the identified first and second figurines; and wherein: the causing of the display screen to display the animation correlated to the action word is based on the detected orientations of the identified first and second figurines.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: detecting an interaction between the identified first and second figurines; and wherein: the causing of the display screen to display the animation correlated to the action word is based on the detected interaction between the identified first and second figurines.
 8. A system comprising: one or more processors; and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor among the one or more processors, cause the system to perform operations comprising: detecting a co-occurrence of first and second figurines being within a detection range of a sensor of the machine; identifying the first and second figurines in response to their detected co-occurrence within the detection range of the sensor of the machine; determining an action word based on the identified first and second figurines whose co-occurrence within the detection range of the sensor is detected; determining that a database represents the action word in a list of action words and correlates the action word to an animation of a corresponding action performable by the identified first and second figurines; and causing a display screen to display the animation correlated to the action word by the database, the displayed animation depicting the corresponding action performable by the identified first and second figurines whose co-occurrence within the detection range of the sensor is detected.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein: the identifying of the first and second figurines includes recognizing that the first figurine is at least one of a first animal figure, a first anthropomorphic figure, a first cartoon figure, or a first action figure and that the second figurine is at least one of a second animal figure, a second anthropomorphic figure, a second cartoon figure, or a second action figure.
 10. The system of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise: identifying a relationship between the identified first and second figurines; and wherein: the causing of the display screen to display the animation correlated to the action word is based on the identified relationship between the identified first and second figurines.
 11. The system of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise: detecting relative positions of the identified first and second figurines; and wherein: the causing of the display screen to display the animation correlated to the action word is based on the detected relative positions of the identified first and second figurines.
 12. The system of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise: detecting absolute positions of the identified first and second figurines; and wherein: the causing of the display screen to display the animation correlated to the action word is based on the detected absolute positions of the identified first and second figurines.
 13. The system of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise: detecting orientations of the identified first and second figurines; and wherein: the causing of the display screen to display the animation correlated to the action word is based on the detected orientations of the identified first and second figurines.
 14. The system of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise: detecting an interaction between the identified first and second figurines; and wherein: the causing of the display screen to display the animation correlated to the action word is based on the detected interaction between the identified first and second figurines.
 15. A non-transitory machine-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising: detecting a co-occurrence of first and second figurines being within a detection range of a sensor of the machine; identifying the first and second figurines in response to their detected co-occurrence within the detection range of the sensor of the machine; determining an action word based on the identified first and second figurines whose co-occurrence within the detection range of the sensor is detected; determining that a database represents the action word in a list of action words and correlates the action word to an animation of a corresponding action performable by the identified first and second figurines; and causing a display screen to display the animation correlated to the action word by the database, the displayed animation depicting the corresponding action performable by the identified first and second figurines whose co-occurrence within the detection range of the sensor is detected. 